Island Dance

What is Contra dance?, by Gary Shapiro. More on the New Dancer page

Check Barn/Community & Square dances for related high energy events

Cortes Island, concert/Contra dance at the Gorge Hall, 26 Jan 2013 7:30 p.m. $10 adults
Rick Bockner leads off with a concert, followed by the inaugural gig of Cortes Island's newest band, "One Foot In The Groove" (Brian Hayden - fiddle, Rick Bockner - guitar, Drivin Curran - keyboard, Leonard Woywitka- bass). Also featuring Hornby Island's June Cannon calling the dances

Contra/Community Dance at the Merrville Hall - 1245 Fenwick Rd, Merrville, BC - Comox Valley
http://www.fiddlejam.ca/    Craig Freeman 250.339.4249  
- "The Funtime Fiddlers hold a Contra / Old Time dance at the Merville Hall generally on the third Saturday of the month from September to June (though sometimes the dates are changed due to availability of players, caller and hall)."
[Dance evenings incorporate about four spread out contra/ceilidh/community dances, with opportunity for couple dancing and Old Time musical sets. Mailing list available]

Mid-Island Country Dance - Nanaimo Contra Dance series has Ended. A committee may be working on returning regular Contra dancing to Nanaimo, Ladysmith and/or the Mid-Island area. Stay tuned
Nanaimo News Bulletin article

Dance On Mayne (Island), hosts Contra dancing in it's mix (also ECD & SCD). Dances often held at the Ag(ricultural) Hall. Contact information may include only the last four digits of a phone number. For off-islanders the rest is 250.539.xxxx

Victoria Contra Dance series -- Adding another dance evening per month!
St. Matthais Anglican Church hall, 600 Richmond Av., Victoria, BC, V8S 3Y7
Now (mostly) 2nd Saturday and Last Saturday of the month, Sept to June. Dancer intro session 7:00 p.m., Dance 7:30 p.m.  E-mail notification list. See site calendar as the 2nd dance per month works on finding space
Accessible via Vic Regional Transit/BC Transit. Route 7 stops @ Fairfield & Richmond, about two blocks from the hall. The Vic. Regional Transit telephone service agent suggested the Douglas & View Eastbound departure at 1821, to be at Richmond at 1835-40, at the hall before the workshop, with jacket off, shoes on. It's roughly between the two timing points. The UVic 1827 departure would have one there in time for the workshop

Victoria Experimental Contry Dance Party & Urban Barn Dance - Summer series (info page)
St. Matthais Anglican Church hall, 600 Richmond Av., Victoria, BC, V8S 3Y7
This popular series was not repeated summer of 2012. Stay tuned.
Would you like to help make this brief summer series operate? Please contact us
Was: Thursday evenings, Jul/Aug 2011. Dance 7:00 - 10 p.m. $8 All ages, dry event. No partner or previous experience required. Dances taught and called. New dancer info. Please arrive Fragrance Free 

To avoid disappointment ALWAYS check for changes before heading out to any dance.
In poor weather don't assume a web site will be up to the minute, unless perhaps it displays a cancellation notice

Regional Contra

Vancouver Country Dance has a lively scene with two monthly contra dance series and other occasional dances. One series is hosted by VCD with different musicians and callers. Another by house musicians, The Sybaritic String Band, and various callers. Both the VCD & Sybs dance series are hosted at the same location. VCD has an e-mail notification list (Van ECD has a separate one)

Port Angles, WA 1st Saturday. Sept - May. Beginners' workshop at 7:30, dance 8:00 - 11:30 p.m. Black Diamond Community Center, 1942 Black Diamond Rd, Port Angeles. $6.USD Tom 360.457.5667 tom at shindler dot us

Bellingham Country Dance Soc. 2nd, 4th & 5th Sat, 7:30-10:30 p.m.. Fairhaven Library, 1117 12th St. Bellingham, WA. $8-10 USD Beginner's Workshop 7:00 p.m. E-mail notification list

Seattle and area Contra dances at SeattleDance.org Seattle hosts year 'round series on Thursday and Friday. A Seattle Open caller mic/Open band 2nd Sunday. Monthly dances Tacoma, Olympia, Yakima and in Seattle a new East Side & a Gender Free. Lively "Seattle Contra" Yahoo! Group/list effectively covers Puget Sound area

Contra Camps, Weekends

Vancouver hosts the Chehalis Contra Dance Camp each September. This year it's 20-22 September 2013
It's been in a residential camp setting on the Sunshine Coast, with great food and friendly staff and organisers for some 15 years. In 2011 it returned to it's roots at Chehalis itself, in the Fraser Valley. This is a stunningly fun event, which fills rapidly. Get on their mailing list

Some video of two sessions of impromptu, midnight ECD, and some including what may be atypical Contra music! (from 2010). More images & videos

Raincoast Ruckus, Vancouver's in-town Contra dance weekend in mid-winter, is on sabbatical this year, write to them if you're interested in helping it run

Dancing Fool, annually in early Feb., is the remaining Contra dance weekend in Seattle. This is a "serious" grin event, however it is also in the category of "Zesty Contra" so may not appeal to all, nor is it really accessible to new dancers. Mailing list contact is recommended, this event fills rapidly. As of 2011 DF has added a Fall Fool in October

A number of local dancers head to the North West Folklife at the Seattle Center on the American Memorial Day Weekend. Many bands & callers appear in rotation throughout the weekend in the Fisher Pavillion re-rigged and re-named for the weekend as The Roadhouse, now memorialising our dear friend Warrren Argo, as Warren's Roadhouse